Is my manager being unreasonable?

[insancerre]

Work want me to attend training next week at another site but I don’t want to go and feel they are being unreasonable to expect this of me

Background- I have been on furlough for 3 weeks and was told to take annual leave for the next week and my annual leave I had booked for June was cancelled
I got a call telling me I have to go to training on Wednesday all day at another site
Thing is I don’t drive and it’s 2 buses there and 2 back, and I don’t want to go on public transport, and the government is telling me to avoid it
I have asked if the other people who attended the training this week can feed back to me when I return from annual leave. The directors have to ok this
So, am i being unreasonable to say I can’t attend?

YABU

Sorry Op but I think YABU also.

Op i am really sorry what is happening with your sister and your stepmum .But i have worked from day one in community care .I miss seeing my DS so much not seen him in the flesh for 13 weeks and my BFF too even though they live close it is online as they are working too.What i am saying op life is bloody hard at the moment for us all,for the last 11wks i have just been solely to work and home no where else except fuel and our local village shop it is the only shop i will use to keep my risk as low as possible . My bit long winded point is op we all have to change our way of living at the monent so you should really go imho.

if the company cancelled your annual leave they must give twice as much notice to cancel it )if you have 1 week off, they must give 2 weeks notice etc), the way i have read your post is saying you should be on leave when they want you in for training?

explain to them they must give you twice as much notice to cancel your leave so unfortunately you wont be attending and they can arrange it for another time.

Yabu

I know there is some guidance on training while furloughed, but it depends how you interpret it I think:

You are allowed to take part in volunteer work while you are furloughed, as well as training, so long as the work does not provide services to or generate revenue for, or on behalf of your organisation.

Also:

If you are required to complete online training courses while on furlough, you must be paid at the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage for the time spent training, even if this is more than the 80 per cent of your wage that has been subsided.

So you should at least be paid your wage for the time spent training, not just 80% if that's all you're getting on furlough.

I think its cheeky of the company to change your annual leave to next week and then make you do training in the middle of it. But it seems i am alone in this. The distance isn't really an issue though imo.

Is it going to possible to socially distance at training? My sector has moved all essential training online/zoom etc, usually our teams would work from various sites but we have been given one office location on a rota basis so they're address fewer people in at any one time making distancing possible and people are not moving site to site and potentially increasing transmission likelihood, which also makes sense from a business perspective as you don't want half the workforce down in one fell swoop. Is the training essential right now?

I think it is unreasonable yes. They may have the legal right to ask this, but it is the kind of thing that a good employer would not do. If you are on annual leave during this week at their request point that out and it seems very reasonable to see if your coworkers can pass on the training when you return. If it is absolutely essential that you do this training, is there the possibility of doing it remotely? Or if you have to be there in person asking them to pay for transport again seems a totally reasonable adjustment. This is a really abnormal time and employers should be as accommodating as possible. You should not have to unnecessarily risk catching the virus and the potential serious complications if it isn't absolutely essential.

I've been working throughout and haven't been allowed to see my family so that's a red herring tbh.

They can’t make you both take annual leave and go on training at the same time. I don’t quite understand that bit of your post.

But if they are paying you during time that you’re meant to be working, then they have every right to expect you to go on training. It’s not their fault that you can’t drive, that’s to do with your personal life not your job. You can ask them if they’d be willing to pay for a taxi for you, but that’s still public transport with close contact with someone who is likely to have been working through lockdown. If not, you have the choice to pay yourself, see if you can get a lift, or use the busses.

Op. The government is not saying do not use public transport if you need it to get to work, they are saying drive or cycle or walk if possible if not use the public transport.

They have also said everyone should be back at work other than listed industries ie pubs clubs beauty etc.

So your employer is not unreasonable to expect you to work or do training.

In this instance it would be you who is unreasonable to say no.

I'm furloughed for 3 months. April, May and June. My employer has cancelled annual leave during this time and when I go back it'll be recalculated pro rata. I am not looking at work emails at all. I would be reluctant if I were in your shoes. I would perhaps use my kids as an excuse not to attend.

I have been working through March and April and was put on furlough at the beginning of June
I then received an email saying I was to take annual leave until the end of May
I haven’t officially been told my return date
On Friday I had a call telling me I had to go on training on the Wednesday and they would pay me and give me a days annual leave back
I also noticed that my annual leave I had booked for June has been cancelled but haven’t been told this officially
Incidentally, I cancelled annual leave I had booked for Easter so I could cover someone else, so I am prepared to be reasonable.
The journey will likely take me a couple of hours each way
For those that asked, yes I do intend to not use public transport unless absolutely necessary. I normally walk to work. I don’t have any issues returning to work, I just feel anxious about taking unnecessary risks using buses and going into another nursery, and being in contact with a whole bunch of other people

Your employer is correctly interpreting the new government guidelines. Travelling on public transport for work is consistent with the guidelines. It sucks that can see colleagues but not visit family, but that's how it is.

Can you get taxi both ways & claim expenses ?

Your.employer is being completely unreasonable . They cannot force you to take leave you didn't ask for and cancel other leave . Then tell you to work during the leave they have forced.you to take .All without proper discussion or notice . I don't care about unprecedented times. That is just taking the piss. Yet so many on here telling you you are being unreasonable. I am not surprised though MN seems.full of people who think individuals should just be servants of their employers.

Regardless of public transport use or attending training days or covid . Your employer is being totally unreasonable.

Unless there is some shielding reason why you can't and annual leave aside you need to take sensible precautions and get on the bus. Some of us have been out and about for work since lockdown and it has been hard but things need to keep functioning.

Most of the info provided is uneccessary.

If you are being directed to take leave your employer should have given you notice of twice the length of the leave.

Whether youve been furloughed or have been working or want to avoid public transport is neither here nor there. They havent given the notice required by law.

Have you worked across site previously? Does your contract say you might be required to on occasion? Is there any reason that the training cannot be delivered remotely via Skype or zoom? Could you ask if this would be possible? It doesn't seem particularly prudent for staff from different sites to be mixing if they don't usually and it's not absolutely necessary.
I think I would be more frustrated that the plans keep changing and they seem very poor at communicating with you about the changes or doing so at quite short notice.

If I'd been told to take leave, I think I'd have made plans for that day that prevented me from attending training.

So they haven’t given me the correct notice to change my annual leave?
They told me to take Friday 22nd to Friday 29th, which is 6 days annual leave
They told me on Friday 22nd to attend training on Wednesday 27th and they would cancel that days annual leave

OP if you want to refuse on legal grounds then you need to make sure you're information is correct otherwise you will look like you are just trying to avoid attending the training. If you have a union you could ask them for advice. I don't think it incumbent upon you to be the diplomat here but I do think it's in your interests not to escalate things to a legal dispute.

YABU. Lots of us still have to work and have no choice in using public transport.

I'd be annoyed about having annual leave messed around and setting a precedent for the future. If you do want to save the day's holiday though, just ask someone else for a lift if you don't want to get the bus or get a taxi - there's other options.